Chapter 4
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 4
Chapter Title: 3. Normalization Begins
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After clearing the tutorial and heading out of the motel to the next quest location, the office, I found an unknown monk panting at the entrance.
Curiosity got the better of me, so I approached and spoke to him. This time, his information popped up next to the monk's face.
Wasn't it just showing info for anomalies or items?
Maybe this monk in front of me is a named NPC, which is why the description window appeared.
'Better to build a connection with named NPCs.'
Who knows, I might even recruit him as a companion.
"Ah... I apologize for the rude first meeting. I am Hye-ryeong of the Lotus Sect, affiliated with the Korean Buddhism White Lotus Order."
"Uh, sure. I'm Lee Do-hyun. Fixer."
I blurted out my introduction, and the monk immediately pulled a business card from his robe and handed it to me.
"Meeting in a place like this must be fate. If you have time someday, could you contact me at this number? I'd like to treat you to tea or a meal later."
"Me?"
"Yes. Please do contact me. I'll be waiting, Fixer."
The monk handed over the card, bowed his head deeply, and hurried away.
Judging by him being an exorcist, he must have come to exorcise the earth-bound spirit and White-Faced Bride at the motel and run into me.
'That guy definitely... his favorability...'
The favorability number I saw right before he left was a bit odd.
Favorability: 0% → 70%
You are revered as a noble person.
Today's meeting is considered fate.
Favorability shot up in an instant.
I'd only exchanged a few words, and I'd already won over a monk.
"This is insane."
Was this seducing everyone regardless of gender?
I hadn't expected even a man's favorability to go up.
Meet Hye-ryeong Monk when the sun rises.
On top of that, a quest related to the exorcist monk I'd just met had appeared.
This was probably the start of a linked quest.
'Am I some kind of walking opportunity vending machine now?'
Maybe that's how I look to others.
Someone who can beat anomalies barehanded? Yeah, that fits a walking opportunity vending machine.
Following the quest guide line under my feet toward the brightest area, I soon arrived in front of the commercial building housing the office.
It was a five-story commercial building that felt mostly empty, except for the coffee shop on the first floor.
You have arrived at the office.
Rewards will be distributed.
As soon as I reached the office entrance, the quest completion message appeared, and a key, cellphone, and wallet dropped from thin air.
The key was obviously for the office, and the wallet and phone seemed to be part of the rewards.
I picked up the items from the hallway and entered the office.
The sign on the office door read 'Fixer Office'.
"What a mess."
Stepping inside, I was greeted by a filthy office that hadn't been cleaned in ages.
Empty energy drink cans were scattered everywhere, and the desk was buried under piles of documents and paper trash.
Various odd items were left abandoned in the dust, unsorted—prayer beads, exotic masks, even unidentified stones in boxes.
Instant noodle cups, disposable trash, and a blanket on the sofa suggested someone had been living here.
'No way... is the office also the house?'
It seemed that way.
Traces of using the office as a home were everywhere.
The microwave was stained with food splatters, and the fridge stuffed with half-eaten lunchboxes was full of beer.
Clean the office.
While surveying the office, a new quest popped up, making me sigh involuntarily.
Cleaning the office at this late hour?
'Wait, no. I don't have to do it myself.'
Come to think of it, yeah.
I had free labor I could order around right now.
"Hey, come out."
I summoned the White-Faced Bride from the ring.
Tamed anomalies are for times like this.
"D-Did you call me...? Where is this...?"
"This is where we'll live from now on. It's filthy, so clean it up while I rest."
"Me...? For real...?"
"Who else? You."
"Waaah. Housework... I-I'm so happy, my lord."
Telling her to clean the office made the White-Faced Bride shed tears of joy, wiping her eyes emotionally.
Was cleaning really something to be this thrilled about?
"Of course... Housework is the pinnacle of wifely duties... Today, I finally become a housewife..."
"Yeah...?"
The White-Faced Bride was like an amalgamation of unmarried virgin ghosts.
So, she seemed deeply satisfied just with the idea of becoming a housewife.
"Glad you're happy. Clean it spotless."
"Yesss, my lord... Leave it all to me... Rest eaaaasy..."
She even tied on an apron from who-knows-where.
Trusting her confident demeanor, I left the cleaning to her and sat on the sofa to examine the reward wallet and phone closely.
'The ID is exactly like my original one.'
Personal info hadn't changed.
My name, age, resident registration number—all matched reality perfectly.
The differences: in this world, Lee Do-hyun was an orphan without parents and hadn't gone to college.
Personal info mostly matched, but the backstory was different.
'Not many numbers saved in the phone either.'
I checked the album and hidden folders for anything unusual, but nothing.
Except one thing.
'What's World of Doom Gallery?'
The reward phone had one app I'd never seen before.
It was the [World of Doom Gallery], a community app for game participants.
Obviously, there was no game called World of Doom in this world.
I'd just searched everything.
Even integrated search yielded nothing on World of Doom.
It was a name used only in this app.
So, an app with such a meta name existing only on my phone? Naturally, I'd suspect it's a community for possessors like me.
I launched the app right away, hoping for detailed info on the current situation.
What the hell is this abyss?
The titles were all so deranged I hesitated to click.
What even was that bee-heart-bee-heart thing?
What did it mean?
Why did they have insanely high views and comment counts?
"Damn, the gallery's already infested."
The gallery had apparently become a playground for anomalies.
For some reason, all the armbands managing it had gone AWOL, leaving the community unmanaged—flooded with backflow crap, mentally polluting gore images, and meaningless words.
No way to stay sane here long.
Anomalies that scramble your brain just by looking were feasting on users' minds.
Better get out quick. Click the wrong post, and who knows what happens. Or just delete the app.
As I pondered, a guide window appeared.
You have been appointed manager of World of Doom Gallery.
Accept?
YESNO
What the—?!
Suddenly, what was this?
Me, become armband of this insane anon gallery?
24/7 unpaid guardian, wiping grannies as a free volunteer eraser?
'Wait, no. Not sub-manager, full manager...'
Then they want me to be the main admin.
Appoint sub-managers and just oversee, right?
'Looking at how it's run, I'm probably the only sane one in World of Doom Gallery.'
Mental strength over 200 meant I was immune to most anomaly mental attacks unless an outer god tried 108 brutal account wipes.
Essentially immune to Halkas mental attacks, so arguably the perfect candidate.
'But what do I get for bearing the armband burden?'
No proper reward? No need to volunteer.
My nose is too stuffy for free labor.
Become manager of World of Doom Gallery.
No return, so I was about to refuse, but the quest popped up, so I hit YES.
It's not a lifetime sentence as main admin; play around and bail if needed, right? That's what I thought...
You have become manager of World of Doom Gallery.
Rewards will be distributed.
The quest completed, and rewards were granted.
This time, not material items.
"So this is the anon gallery main admin view."
Absolute authority over World of Doom Gallery.
The anonymous posters, all shown as before, now had their names visible.